Diet, Life Expectancy, and Chronic Disease

Studies of Seventh-Day Adventists and Other Vegetarians

Gary E. Fraser

This book provides broad coverage of the scientific literature on diet and the risk of cancer and heart disease, as well as diet and life ...

Diet, Life Expectancy, and Chronic Disease

Studies of Seventh-Day Adventists and Other Vegetarians

Gary E. Fraser

Description

Research into the role of diet in chronic disease can be difficult to interpret. Measurement errors in different studies often produce conflicting answers to the same questions. Seventh-day Adventists and other groups with many vegetarian members are ideal study populations because they have a wide range of dietary habits that adds power and clarity to research findings.

This book analyses the results of such studies, focusing on heart disease and cancer. These studies support the benefits of a vegetarian diet and in addition provide evidence about the effects of individual foods and food groups on disease risk that is relevant to all who are interested in good health. The author places the findings in the broader context of well-designed nutritional studies of the general population. He discusses the degree of confidence we can have in particular relationships between diet and disease based on the strength of the evidence. The book is written in a clear style with an extensive glossary, and should be accessible to a wide audience.

Diet, Life Expectancy, and Chronic Disease

Studies of Seventh-Day Adventists and Other Vegetarians

Gary E. Fraser

Table of Contents

1: Why we study the health of Adventists 2: Coronary heart disease rates among Adventists and others 3: Cancer rates among Adventists and others 4: The longevity of Adventists as compared with others 5: Diet and the risk of coronary heart disease 6: Diet and the risk of cancer 7: Diet, other risk factors and ageing 8: Vegetarianism and obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and arthritis 9: Social support, religiosity, other psychological factors and health 10: Coronary heart disease mortality among British, German, and Indian vegetarians 11: Cancer and all-cause mortality among British and German vegetarians 12: Risk factors for cardiovascular disease and cancer among vegetarians 13: Risk factors and disease among vegans 14: Changing a population's diet: a behavioural view of the Adventist experience 15: Shifting to a vegetarian diet: practical suggestions from a nutritionist 16: The challenge of nutritional epidemiology